Building a new house

It has been an unexpectedly wet day, so we went over to the plot more in hope than expectation, but we were rewarded (perhaps for the fact that Elizabeth had made the builders some brownies) by the sight of roof trusses erected on the first roof section. The 'wing' which sits at right angles to it will get its trusses next, creating a particular change in the view from across the field. But we can already see from the front and from the village side how the building will sit in context. from across the field (roughly from the north) from the front (roughly from the west) from the south-west

We are back from a week away in Devon visiting Chris, Katie and family for a few days, followed by a campervan stay at Helene and Col's self-build, where Elizabeth worked in the garden-to-be and I fitted the downstairs door linings as part of the preparation for the next phase of plastering. We were away for a whole week! It was lovely and felt a little bit like old times - for days on end we didn't wear a mask. We had a slow drive back as there had been a vehicle fire on the M5, and because it was a summer Friday and traffic levels are definitely back to pre-Covid levels, even if there is an HGV-driver shortage (so many EU citizens have gone home, and who can blame them?) We came home via the plot to find blocks in abundance, some of them laid, and a second stage of scaffolding to the higher sections. A later call with Pat established that the wait for the scaffolding had been the cause of the previous week's inactivity. There seem to be delays for everything in the constr...

So, not a lot of progress over the last few days. No blocks delivery, so no block layers. On Monday we saw Clwyd over the back garden fence. He and his wife have a few health niggles, and he's lost his mojo for golf. They've had no problems with the builders, except for once a bit of dust when blocks were being cut.  Yesterday evening we spent an hour or so clearing the waist-high thistles which had grown at the back of the plot. the central pier (essentially the support for the chimney) ascends there are only part-blocks on site at present the joists wait some of the weeds have been cleared....... .......but more await

The blockwork has edged up, though the next delivery of blocks is overdue. The joists for the flat roof over the porch are in place, and trusses for the main roof have arrived. The next stage of the scaffolding is needed now so that the gables can be constructed and the trusses fitted. Away from the build, we have accepted Hayden's kind gift of two small patches of agricultural land at the edge of his field, sought to placate neighbours about their garden being overlooked, started to referee a debate between architect and builder about render colours, and prepared for an engagement with the planning department (somewhat late, you may think) about a couple of pre-commencement conditions attached to our planning consent. The next building control inspection is due later today. out through the study window uninterrupted first-floor stretches of wall give privacy to and from neighbours to side and rear roof trusses with Pat's name on them awaiting blocks delivery valuable timber st...

Just a quick end-of-week round-up. The progress with the inner skin of blocks to the first floor this week has quickly created a strong sense of the volume of the house. Another week should see this phase of the blockwork finished (with the garage to be added later). We dropped round this afternoon with a box of brownies as a small thankyou. We also called in on Hayden and agreed to meet up next week to mark out the two small rectangles of adjacent land that he has kindly offered us. Elizabeth diving in through the 'front door' the back corner view of our bedroom projecting to the right bedroom 2 rising above the kitchen, with Plas Coch Bach in the background bedroom 1 above sitting room details of the blockwork tied to the steel reinforcing framework, and of the flue sections

We dropped by just as the light was fading this evening to find that the scaffolders had completed the installation of the first floor platform. They won't need to come back now until it's time for the roof to go on, when another platform will be added. We were also pleased to see the inner skin almost complete, with some more insulation panels fitted. Another week or so's work should have the block walls finished. looking a little different from the front now we have access to the 'first floor' - well, sort of from the back kitchen corner the dining corner towards the sitting room and bedroom 1 (from the top of a pile of soil) this is where the scaffolders needed to go into the adjacent field yes, it's a bit tight down this side - this is where we hope to acquire a little more land so I popped up the scaffolding to see what the view from our bedroom will be and this is from bedroom 2 it's a wheelbarrow motorway up here glad to see another small Ruthin compa...

Today saw the erection of the first batch of scaffolding. We are told that it should be completed in the course of the next few days, but that further supplies have to come from another site. We wonder whether, with lots of stories of shortages of building materials in the media at present, this may be one of many delays to come. We have also noticed an absence of insulation panels on site so hope more of those will arrive soon. In the meantime the two blocklayers are making good progress with the the inner skin of the upper walls. here's the current view of the house from the Hendrerwydd road (the dark horizontal strip centre right is the beech hedge which separates the front garden from the field, and the break in the hedge left of centre is where the connection to the sewer was made) closer and closest (the chimney in the centre of the picture belongs to Clwyd's bungalow - distance is compressed by the telefoto lens) from the front sentinel scaffolding poles